Complete Health Indicator Report of Health Insurance Coverage

Definition

Numerator

Number of persons in the survey sample who lacked health insurance coverage.

Denominator

Total number of persons in the survey sample.

Data Interpretation Issues

Estimates of the uninsured in Utah are currently calculated using a set of state-added questions included on the Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Formerly these questions were asked on two state-based surveys - the Utah Healthcare Access Survey (UHAS) and the Utah Health Status Survey (HSS).
Since 2011 the BRFSS has included both landline and cell phone telephone interviews as well as an updated weighting methodology. For more information, please see: [https://ibis.health.utah.gov/pdf/opha/resource/brfss/RakingImpact2011.pdf].
Compared with state surveys in Utah, the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) have historically yielded higher estimates of the Utah population with no health insurance coverage. Reasons may include difference in question wording, data weighting, and data imputation for missing values. For a thorough discussion of why state health insurance estimates differ from those produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, please refer to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) publication 'Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count the Uninsured: 2016' at [http://www.shadac.org/publications/comparing-federal-government-surveys-count-uninsured-2016].

Why Is This Important?

Most people need medical care at some time in their lives. Medical care is often quite expensive and is becoming more expensive. Health insurance covers all or some costs of care and protects people from very high expenses.
Persons with health insurance are more likely than persons without health insurance to have a regular source of primary health care and to have routine preventive care. Persons without coverage often have delays seeking needed care and find services difficult to afford.

Healthy People Objective AHS-1.1:

How Are We Doing?

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

In 2017, the ACS estimate for uninsured Utahns was 9.2% while the national estimate was 8.7%. The Utah BRFSS data is almost identical to the ACS Utah uninsured rate at 9.8% in 2017. The slight variation of the estimate of the uninsured from the BRFSS are because the questions used to estimate insurance coverage are considered "state-added" questions and are specific to Utah.

What Is Being Done?

The Utah Department of Health administers programs to improve access to care, such as Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Primary Care Network (PCN), and Utah's Premium Partnership for Health Insurance (UPP). The Department also works to improve the "safety net" for persons who lack health insurance. This is done through primary care grants to rural areas and clinics for children with disabilities. Local health departments provide preventive services such as immunizations and screenings at low or no cost to eligible persons who cannot afford them.

Health Program Information

Concerns about rising health care costs and the affordability of health care insurance led to enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010. In Utah, citizens can sign up for health insurance through the federal exchange or through Utah's exchange, Avenue H, if they work for a participating small business.

Related Relevant Population Characteristics Indicators:

Health Care System Factors

Health insurance coverage is an important part of the health care system. Persons without coverage find it difficult to afford health care, and often delay or fail to obtain necessary care. Dental and mental health care are especially fragile elements of health care coverage.
Health plan "report cards" are constructed for managed care plans by the UDOH Office of Health Care Statistics, using information collected from surveys of persons who had those health insurance plans.
Persons who lack coverage are more likely to be hospitalized for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (those conditions most effectively treated in outpatient settings).
The Utah Department of Health manages Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Primary Care Network (PCN), and Utah's Premium Partnership for Health Insurance, all of which are designed to provide coverage or pay for services for persons who lack private health insurance coverage.

Risk Factors

Related Risk Factors Indicators:

Graphical Data Views

No Health Insurance Coverage, Utah and U.S. ACS and BRFSS Estimates, 2008-2017

Compared with state surveys in Utah, the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) have historically yielded higher estimates of the Utah population with no health insurance coverage. Reasons may include difference in question wording, data weighting, and data imputation for missing values. For a thorough discussion of why state health insurance estimates differ from those produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, please refer to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) publication 'Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count the Uninsured: 2016' at [http://www.shadac.org/publications/comparing-federal-government-surveys-count-uninsured-2016].
Beginning in 2011, BRFSS data include both landline and cell phone telephone users as well as an updated weighting methodology for analysis. BRFSS data shown in this graph are based on the old methodology for years 2009 and 2010 and the new methodology for years 2011 forward.

Data Sources

No Health Insurance Coverage, Utah and U.S. ACS and BRFSS Estimates, Children Aged 0-17, 2008-2017

Compared with state surveys in Utah, the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS) and the American Community Survey (ACS) have historically yielded higher estimates of the Utah population with no health insurance coverage. Reasons may include difference in question wording, data weighting, and data imputation for missing values. For a thorough discussion of why state health insurance estimates differ from those produced by the U.S. Census Bureau, please refer to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) publication 'Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count the Uninsured: 2016' at [http://www.shadac.org/publications/comparing-federal-government-surveys-count-uninsured-2016].
Beginning in 2011, BRFSS data include both landline and cell phone telephone users as well as an updated weighting methodology for analysis. BRFSS data shown in this graph are based on the old methodology for years 2009 and 2010 and the new methodology for years 2011 forward.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Estimates for this graph are crude, not age-adjusted.[[br]]
[[br]]2017 ACS estimates not available for selected age group.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Estimates for this graph are crude, not age-adjusted.
[[br]]
[[br]] In 2001, the method used by the the Utah Healthcare Access Survey (formerly called the Health Status Survey) was changed to include follow-up questions for persons who reported they were not covered by health insurance. The 2001 figures, above, are reported both using and not using the new follow-up questions. The new method suggests that the rate may be lower than we previously believed, but does not suggest a decrease from 1996 to 2001.
[[br]]
[[br]] Beginning in 2009, these data have been collected on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) as the UHAS is no longer being conducted.
[[br]]
[[br]] In 2011, the BRFSS underwent some methodology changes: the addition of cell phone only households to the sampling frame and an updated weighting methodology.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] *Use caution when interpreting. Estimates marked with this symbol in the data table have a coefficient of variation greater than 30% and less than or equal to 50% and are therefore deemed unreliable by Utah Department of Health standards.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Data not age-adjusted.
[[br]]
[[br]] *Use caution in interpreting. The estimates have a relative standard error greater than 30% and are therefore deemed unreliable by Utah Department of Health standards.
[[br]]
[[br]] **The estimate has been suppressed because the relative standard error is greater than 50%.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Age-adjusted to U.S. 2000 standard population using 6 age-adjustment age groups.
[[br]]
[[br]] *Use caution in interpreting. The estimates have a relative standard error >30% and are therefore deemed unreliable by Utah Department of Health standards.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Age-adjusted to U.S. 2000 standard population using 6 age-adjustment age groups. These estimates are for Utahns of ALL AGES.
[[br]]
[[br]] *Use caution when interpreting. Estimates marked with this symbol have a coefficient of variation greater than 30% and are therefore deemed unreliable by Utah Department of Health standards.
[[br]]
[[br]] **Value has been suppressed because the sample size was too small to produce a reliable estimate.
[[br]]
[[br]] A description of the Utah Small Areas may be found on IBIS at the following URL: [https://ibis.health.utah.gov/resource/Guidelines.html].

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population using 6 age-adjustment age groups.
[[br]]
[[br]] *Use caution when interpreting. Estimates marked with this symbol in the data table have a coefficient of variation greater than 30% and less than or equal to 50% and are therefore deemed unreliable by Utah Department of Health standards.
[[br]]
[[br]] **Value has been suppressed because the sample size was too small to produce a reliable estimate.

Data Source

No Health Insurance Coverage by Ethnicity, Utah, 2017

Hispanic Ethnicity

Age-adjusted Percentage of Persons

Lower Limit

Upper Limit

Record Count: 2

Hispanic

27.0%

23.0%

31.4%

Non-Hispanic

7.0%

6.1%

8.0%

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population using 6 age-adjustment age groups.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Data not age-adjusted.
[[br]]
[[br]] **Value has been suppressed because the sample size was too small to produce a reliable estimate.

Data Source

No Health Insurance Coverage by Income Category, Utah, 2017

Income Category

Age-adjusted Percentage of Persons

Lower Limit

Upper Limit

Record Count: 4

<$25,000

29.1%

25.0%

33.6%

$25,000-$49,999

13.8%

11.1%

16.9%

$50,000-$74,999

4.6%

3.0%

7.1%

$75,000+

2.5%

1.8%

3.5%

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
[[br]] Age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population using 6 age-adjustment age groups.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]]
Estimates for this graph are crude, not age-adjusted.
This graphical view is being kept for historical purposes. For a thorough discussion of why state health insurance estimates differ from those produced by the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS), please refer to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) publication 'Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count the Uninsured: 2014' at [http://www.shadac.org/publications/comparing-federal-government-surveys-count-uninsured-2014].
The Census Bureau suggests using 2-year averages to look at changes in state rates over time, according to the CPS 2009 Annual Social and Economic Supplement technical notes, Appendix G, available at [http://www.census.gov/prod/techdoc/cps/cpsmar09.pdf]. For the historical CPS graph, we use the CPS single-year estimates to compare with the UHAS one-year estimates. Though CPS does not suppress Utah's single-year estimates, they should be interpreted with some caution.

Data Notes

Health insurance is defined as including private coverage, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government programs. [[br]][[br]]
Estimates for this graph are crude, not age-adjusted.
This graphical view is being kept for historical purposes. For a thorough discussion of why state health insurance estimates differ from those produced by the U.S. Current Population Survey (CPS), please refer to the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) publication 'Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count the Uninsured: 2014' at [http://www.shadac.org/publications/comparing-federal-government-surveys-count-uninsured-2014].
The Census Bureau suggests using 2-year averages to look at changes in state rates over time, according to the CPS 2009 Annual Social and Economic Supplement technical notes, Appendix G, available at [http://www.census.gov/prod/techdoc/cps/cpsmar09.pdf]. For the historical CPS graph, we use the CPS single-year estimates to compare with the UHAS one-year estimates. Though CPS does not suppress Utah's single-year estimates, they should be interpreted with some caution.

Utah DOH

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